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NASCAR Auto Club 400 Gambling Picks/Preview

2012 Auto Club 400 Predictions – Betting Preview + Picks + Odds

The fifth Sprint Cup point race of the season takes NASCAR all the way back out to the West Coast this Sunday for the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California. Brad Keselowski and the No.2 Miller Lite car took the checkered flag last Sunday at Bristol for his first win of the year.  

NASCAR Sprint Cup Auto Club 400 Preview and Prediction
Race: Auto Club 400
Date: Sunday, March 25, 2012
Time: 2:30 p.m. (ET)
Broadcast: FOX

Matt Kenseth’s second-place finish moved him to third-place in the point standings and Martin Truex Jr’s third-place finish was his second top 10 of the season.

The following is a closer look at our favorite, contender, and longshot picks for Sunday’s race with odds provided by Bovada.

The Favorite (odds of less than 10/1)

NASCAR decided this week to overturn its decision to levy a 25-point penalty on Jimmie Johnson’s No.48 racing for an illegal modification to his car at Daytona.

This immediately vaulted him to 11th-place in the Sprint Cup standings with 121 total points and just 36 points behind the current point-leader Greg Biffle.

This reversal of fortunes could lead the way to Johnson’s first victory of the season as this week’s 6/1 favorite. He has five career victories at this track including a win in the Auto Club 400 in 2010.
He followed that up with a second-place finish in this race in 2011. Overall, Johnson has an extremely productive average finishing position at Fontana of 5.1.

The Contender (odds of 10/1 to 19/1)

Last year’s Auto Club 400 champion Kevin Harvick has been opened at 10/1 odds to successfully defend his title this week. His recent success in this race started with an eighth-place finish in 2008 and a second-place finish in 2010. [ad-8757089]

After finishing third in last year’s Sprint Cup standings, Harvick is off to another fast start this season with two top 10’s (seventh at Daytona and second at Phoenix) and two 11th-place finishes in his last two races. The No. 29 car is currently in second-place in this year’s standings with 148 points and remains just nine points out of first.

The Longshot (odds of 20/1 or higher)

There is little doubt that Martin Truex Jr. is off to his best start in his six years of Sprint Cup racing with a seventh-place finish at Phoenix to go along with last week’s third-place run. He is currently holding down the fourth spot in the standings with 139 points.

Fontana has not been one of his favorite tracks with just two top-10 finishes in 11 career races here.

Last year in this race, he finished 21st after starting 26th. Given that his average finishing position here is 21.2 it is easy to see why he is a 30/1 longshot to win this race, but his current form adds a ton of value to these odds if you are looking to take a flyer on someone this week.

Odds to Win the Auto Club 400

March 25, 2012

Johnson, Jimmie 6-1
Stewart, Tony 7-1
Busch, Kyle 7-1
Busch, Kurt 7-1
Gordon, Jeff 8-1
Kenseth, Matt 8-1
Edwards, Carl 8-1
Harvick, Kevin 10-1
Biffle, Greg 12-1
Kahne, Kasey 12-1
Keselowski, Brad 12-1
Earnhardt Jr., Dale 20-1
Hamlin, Denny 20-1
Newman, Ryan 30-1
Allmendinger, A.J. 30-1
Bowyer, Clint 30-1
Martin, Mark 35-1
Truex Jr., Martin 35-1
Burton, Jeff 50-1
Menard, Paul 60-1
Lagano, Joey 60-1
Montoya, Juan 60-1
McMurray, Jamie 60-1
Ambrose, Marcos 60-1
Ragan, David 100-1
Almirola, Aric 100-1
Labonte, Bobby 100-1
Smith, Regan 100-1
Gaughan, Brendan 100-1
Against the Field (any other driver) 50-1

*SPRINT Cup Odds provided by Bovada

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By Dave Schwab

David Schwab is a regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog. While not cheering for his beloved Philadelphia Eagles David can be found working on his blog at www.eaglesinc.com. David wants to hear from you so please comment below.